They say that Man is the deadlier prey of all. This is doubly true when the men in question have lightsabers.
Lightsaber battle fan films are always fun to watch. Unfortunately, they’re kind of dime a dozen these mdays, so it’s hard to be really impressed by them anymore. But Three Minutes, a short action/thriller from newbie director Ross Ching, puts just enough of a spin on the idea to make it interesting again.
Three Minutes’ premise is pretty simple, people run each other down with a very strict time limit for the amusement of an old man with a seemingly endless supply of people and guns. The film opens with the Old Man rolling up a shutter, handing the first hunter – played by Glee star Harry Shum Jr. – and telling him he has three minutes to hunt down his prey. A brief shot also shows a lightsaber in his back pocket.
The film then cuts to the hunter’s target – played by Emmy nominated dancer Stephen “Twitch” Boss – who is unarmed and in a heck of a lot of trouble. He catches a lucky break, however, when he stumbles upon corpse of a previous runner and scores a lightsaber of his own. He ambushes the hunter, destroying his gun, and forcing him into a duel. After a short, but well choreographed, battle, the hunter emerges victorious. When he returns to the Old Man, however, he discovers that he went over his time and now he is the prey. Keep your eyes peeled for a special guest star at the end – not that she’s especially hard to spot.
Three Minutes manages to be fairly serious, and delightfully silly at the same time. The production values are pretty high, and I love the little comments that speak to a much larger world. You can read more about the cast and crew on the film’s official web site.
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Published: Jan 13, 2011 06:28 pm